“He dedicated more than 30 years of his life to Africa, to travelling among African people – oſten through war-torn zones – learning local languages and customs, and studying local medical techniques. He recorded everything he saw in meticulous detail.

“For years scholars have debated whether Livingstone was a champion of Africans or a forerunner of the worst period in the history of the British Empire and its part in what has been called the Scramble for Africa,” said Wisnicki.

“The truth is that history is an imprecise art and atempts to make such distinctions can be highly misleading. Our site takes a different approach. It provides an unvarnished insight into the historical reality of Livingstone’s Africa.

“For years Etching depicting David Livingstone

this war-torn zone, he recorded a harrowing vision of what we would today call “human trafficking.”

He was not just a dispassionate reporter, however. His humanity shines through in his drawings. Livingstone’s field diary sketches demonstrate how well he understood the individuality of people he encountered.

His authentic sketch of a tatooed African conveys a reality far removed from the polished, stereotypical images that illustrated his published work.

“Any other Western traveller would have fled these scenes of brutality,” said Wisnicki.

“But Livingstone was no ordinary explorer. A Victorian polymath, he was a physician and surgeon by training; a geographer and missionary by trade; and an abolitionist by conviction of conscience.

scholars have debated whether Livingstone was a champion of Africans or a forerunner of the worst period in the history of the British Empire and its part in what has been called the Scramble for Africa.”

:Dr Adrian Wisnicki

“The site brings the public into direct contact with his original words and images, as he recorded his impressions in the field. Livingstone is an important part of our shared global heritage. Now the public can experience his original writen legacy at first hand.”

Dr Isabel Bruce, Chair of the David Livingstone Trust, said: “Livingstone Online’s pioneering work is making the explorer’s manuscripts accessible – and available as a free global resource – for the first time since they were writen in the mid-19th century.

“The newest phase of the site coincides with our award of a £3.5m grant from the Heritage Lotery Fund.

“We plan to transform the museum on the site of Livingstone’s birthplace in Blantyre into an exciting new visitor atraction and research centre.”

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